New Message between [SoupySounds,BeeEnjoyer, FishingHangouts]

–SS is online!

–FH is online!

FH: holy shit ss are you okay?

SS: I'm alright now, I'm currently reading about proper meowmeow care.

FH: can't believe we're sticking with meowmeow.

SS: I think it's funny, so I will keep using it.

FH: well what kind of meowmeow are you thinking of getting?

SS: I'm partial to Scottish Folds, but Himilayan meowmeows are also rather endearing with their squished faces.

FH: hold on i need to look these up.

FH: they're both so cute!!

SS: I would, however, rather adopt, since that's far more ethical. So, as much as I adore these two breeds of meowmeow, I may pick out a different meowmeow entirely when I go in person to adopt.

FH: :3

SS: I'm going to shop for supplies today, I think. I've made an itemized list of what I will need. The only thing I will need to buy after the fact is food, since different meowmeows need different diets and could have digestion issues. I would rather not be wasteful and buy something I won't use.

FH: :^]

FH: i'm glad you're excited about something, you've been down recently! there's nothing wrong with that but i'm happy you're feeling a bit better!!

SS: BD

FH: i'm sorry that i wasn't there when you needed someone.

FH: i know be was there but i…

FH: i dunno!!

FH: i feel like i let you down!!

SS: No.

SS: It's alright. I know things haven't been easy for you.

FH: :[

SS: It's okay.

SS: I promise.

FH: okay.

SS: BD

FH: what're you thinking of naming your meowmeow?

FH: wait thats a dumb question it'll probably censor it.

SS: Mouse.

FH: ?

SS: A meowmeow named Mouse.

SS: Either that or *********.

SS: Agh!!

SS: The youngest daughter of King Lear.

FH: one sec lemme look something up.

SS: Of course.

FH: thats a really dramatic name for a meowmeow!! it fits for your meowmeow to have a name like that!!

FH: i like it!!

SS: BD

FH: ss what's your favorite book?

SS: Oh dear.

SS: Short answer or long answer?

FH: long >:^]

SS: A Midsummer Night's dream is one of my favorites if I'm looking for a somewhat silly plot with a happy ending. The love triangle is rather hilarious, but would be improved with gay people.

SS: If I simply want to get pissed at misogyny and analyze gay subtext, I'll read 'The Great Gatsby.' It makes me so angry some days.

SS: King Lear is one of my favorite tragedies. It simply makes me cry whenever I read the ending, and there are occasions that I simply need to cry.

SS: Honorable mentions are The Odyssey, Much Ado Unto Nothing, and Othello.

FH: wow!!

FH: which one do you think i'd like?

SS: Oh, are you looking for a recommendation?

FH: yea :^]

SS: I would recommend, if you were looking to read Shakespeare, starting with A Midsummer Night's dream. It's not too long, but a good and simple introduction to Shakespeare's style and characters.

FH: cool, i'm gonna find a pdf online and read it on my phone so i can narrate my thoughts!!!

SS: BD

FH: i found one!!

FH: theres so much stuff at the start that seems irrelevant, like why would i want a 'Textual Introduction' when i can scroll down three pages and read the play!!

FH: lmao introducing 4 main characters as 'four lovers' made me think they were a polycule until i remembered what you told me about the love triangle.

SS: Polyamory would simplify a lot of love triangle plots where a protagonist is torn between two love interests.

FH: lmao his names lysander??

FH: sounds like a bit of a little bitch.

SS: Hot take, but you’ll see.

FH: ‘as she is mine i may dispose of her’ what the fuck??

SS: Shakespearean men are often just like that, unfortunately.

FH: maybe egeus is a little bitch instead.

FH: jurys still out on lysander.

SS: The benefits of reading Shakespeare: it doesn’t deem many names as ‘relevant names.’

FH: i wonder if someones named egeus out there.

FH: why can’t ****** make a decision about men herself??

SS: In England during Shakespeare’s time, women were considered property of either their fathers, if they were unmarried, or their husbands if they were married.

FH: i must once again reiterate: what the fuck!

FH: whys being a virgin priestess to the moon goddess a bad thing. that sounds sick as fuck. imagine listing on your resume: ‘occupation: virgin priestess to the moon goddess.’

SS: Because a woman refusing to be property of a man is something that should be frowned upon, according to ******* and most of society.

FH: wait did lysander just tell ********* to go marry ******’s dad?

SS: Yes. It was a sick burn.

FH: are you reading along with me?

SS: Yes.

FH: sick! bookclub!!

FH: ohoho they’re gonna sneak out!!

FH: oooo ****** loves *********!!

FH: i’m starting to see the triangle.

SS: It’s less of a love triangle, and more of an Athens law induced triangle.

FH: wait why would they tell ****** the plan.

FH: she’d totally snitch to ********* to get him to like her!

SS: …

FH: for fucks sake! you think you can trust a girl and then she tells the boy you’re running away from about your plan! can’t have shit in athens!

FH: these guys have one brain cell between them.

SS: The important thing to understand with this scene is that women didn’t play any parts in plays that were put on during this time. All female roles were usually played by younger men.

FH: thats rude. let women act!!

FH: puck is either gonna be really cool or very annoying.

SS: Consider: Both.

FH: shoutout to ******* for basically divorcing ****** but in a 1500's england kinda way.

SS: Somehow, I know exactly who you’re talking about.

FH: fairy drama!!

FH: wait. i’m lost.

FH: fairy queen has a thing for *******?

FH: is ******* the same guy as the greek hero or a different guy who shares the name?

SS: I’d assume it’s the same guy, as ******* was the one, according to legends, responsible for founding Athens. The story takes place in Athens, and ******* is regarded as the ruler of Athens. So I’d assume it’s the same guy.

FH: i don’t know why that was important clarification, but it felt like it was!

FH: fairy drama 2, coming to theaters near you!

FH: these fairies are so wordy i miss the guys who were doing their play D:

FH: i can’t follow this!

FH: but i’m pretty sure they’re just arguing?

SS: Yes. They’re both disloyal to each other, and are arguing over who gets custody, essentially, of a Changeling. The two have been arguing to badly it’s begun to mess the weather up.

FH: they just… keep talking.

FH: the paragraphs are so long…

SS: This is the flaw with reading Shakespeare. It wasn’t meant to be read, it was meant to be spoken with deeper emotion than reading to ourselves can properly convey.

FH: ******: ‘i am your spaniel’

FH: ma’am?

FH: i’ll never get people who have a crush on people that hate them. that’s really… counter productive to the whole point of having a relationship!

FH: cuz ********* is actually being pretty clear about this, and she's just not listening!

SS: Agreed, that trope is gross.

FH: if these two end up together i will be so annoyed!!

FH: don’t tell me if they do though!! no spoilers.

SS: Of course, I would never spoil anything.

FH: big fan of how i keep envisioning this conversation happening in an open field in the middle of a forest.

FH: they sure do talk about virginity a lot.

FH: weiiiird.

SS: It’s England in the 1500’s, they have a lot of strange ideas about how a woman’s worth is connected to her lack of sexual relations.

FH: weiiiird!!

FH: ‘i shall do thee mischief in the wood’ *********???????

FH: weiiiiiird!!!

SS: ******’s line: “We cannot fight for love as men may do.” is a good line, but it’s followed by ******’s annoyance about how ********* is making her pursue him.

FH: :^/

FH: ‘to die upon the hand i love so well’ ma’am????

FH: since when is ********* doing a murder??

SS: I’m… honestly not sure?

FH: well maybe it was cuz ********* was being hostile, and that’s why she said that?

SS: I think I’ll go with that assessment.

FH: there are some shenannigans afoot!!

FH: surely there’ll be no confusion with the ‘thou shalt know the man by the athenian garments he hath on.’ it's not like there’s any other guys in the forest wearing athenian clothes :^]]]

SS: Yes, surely no other guys in the forest will be wearing Athenian clothing.

FH: i’ve just accepted that the fairy segments are weird, to be honest.

SS: Yeah.

FH: why’d the fairies make her fall asleep and then leave her unattended for ****** to pull shenanigans??

SS: They’re going to go do work, I don’t believe they expect ****** to do anything.

FH: oh! sorry, the fairy parts are really hard for me to follow for some reason?

SS: It’s alright, I don’t mind. BD

FH: wait one of the fairies is standing guard, miss fairy, how could you let this happen??

SS: That’s a very good question.

FH: aw fuck lysadners here.

FH: i don’t why but i keep imagining lysander as the most unattractive man ever and that makes this all ten times funnier.

FH: wait.

FH: lysander you bastard.

SS: BD

FH: lysander: high on flower love potion: ‘the will of a man is by reason swayed’

SS: I don’t think I’ve properly expressed just how much your commentary has made me laugh.

FH: :^]

FH: it’s getting spicy!!

FH: feel kinda bad for both the girls. :[

FH: ****** just has some deep rooted issues about her own worth i think bc she’s being compared to ******.

SS: I don’t appreciate how the two main female characters' names are both censored, and also the same length.

SS: I do agree that ****** has deep rooted issues. I have a hypothesis that that’s why she’s latched onto *********. She believes herself unworthy of being loved, and therefore falls for a person who will reaffirm that narrative for herself. There is little textual evidence for her believing she’s unworthy of reciprocated love, but it’s not too much of a stretch to make that conclusion.

FH: she’s less annoying when not talking to *********, but i think their dynamic annoys me more than either of them actually annoy me, if that makes sense?

SS: It does.

FH: me, entering a room: ‘enter the clowns.’

SS: That would imply multiple of you?

FH: the secret comes out! i’m five little me’s stacked in a trenchcoat!

SS: I see.

FH: :^]

FH: or!

FH: :^] :^] :^] :^] :^]

FH: me and my clown army!

SS: May the world tremble in terror.

FH: honestly shoutout to the actors/clowns.

FH: keeping it real (stupid).

FH: i feel like a lot of this would make more sense if i’d read Pyramus and Thisbe.

SS: I think that may be how BE feels when she comes back tomorrow, to see possibly hundreds of messages about a book that she’s never read before.

FH: that’s true! this probably won’t make sense unless she pulled up a version of the book, honestly!

SS: If she is interested, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.

FH: i know ass is another word for donkey.

FH: it’s not funny.

FH: it’s not.

SS: It was intended to be funny.

FH: ohhhhh. the fairy queen likes the donkey man because of the whole flower juice thing?

SS: Yes.

FH: oh dear.

FH: oh my god this guy has one braincell.

FH: he either thinks he’s really funny or he’s just dumb. i don’t know what’s worse!!

SS: It’s likely that he’s just dumb, considering that the clowns are supposed to be incredibly stupid.

FH: the fairy king caring about true love being messed up is interesting.

FH: fairy king: i can fix this by putting more love potions into circulation.

FH: sure bud.

FH: poor ****** honestly. i’d be angry if my friend's boyfriend and also the guy who hates me started saying they loved me.

FH: ok so apparently the girls are good friends. wasn’t too sure on that one.

SS: It’s a rather familiar scenario for some people, I’d imagine. Losing a friendship over a disagreement about a boy.

FH: this all did a swan dive into the deep end of ‘weird.’

SS: Yes, that does tend to happen when love potions are involved.

FH: how the turns have tabled that now ****** is in love with lysander, who says he doesn’t love her. you could say it’s familiar even.

SS: That you could.

FH: fight! fight! fight!

FH: ****** being insecure because she’s short was not the twist i was expecting if i’m honest.

FH: okay so ********* did threaten ****** back at the start.

SS: Strange that I would’ve missed it, but I haven’t revisited A Midsummer Night’s dream in a few years at this point so I’m a fair bit rusty.

FH: that’s ok!

FH: king of the fairies to the other fairy guy: are you seeing this shit?

FH: more flower juice???

FH: when will you learn!!!!

SS: I believe that this time it’s an antidote.

FH: still!!

FH: these kids really like falling asleep in the woods huh.

FH: good thing they didn’t have all those horror movies about being alone in the woods yet!!

FH: lots of convenient sleeping i must say.

SS: It is interesting that they just pass out at certain intervals when it’s convenient for the plot.

FH: :^]

FH: man the king of the fairies loves talking!!

FH: and i do not love reading what he’s saying!!

SS: I believe he’s simply going over his somewhat evil plan to make his wife do what he wanted her to do.

FH: we love a healthy marrige between fairies!

FH: and now they’re just fine again??? talk about ignoring your problems!!

SS: I agree the Fairy King and Queen drama feels like it doesn’t fully resolve itself, and the King and Queen simply decide to put the past behind them with no other discussion.

FH: king: we’re friends again. queen: sounds good.

SS: I have a feeling that this dynamic is something that would bear a further understanding of the culture surrounding marriage at the time, and even then, I’m still not sure.

FH: hold up.

FH: wait what.

FH: ********* is just suddenly in love with ******?

SS: That would be because the love spell was not undone for him.

FH: damn.

FH: fucking fairies.

FH: like this is probably supposed to feel like a satisfying ending of ‘oh everyone lives happily ever after! love triangle solved!’ but ********* doesn’t actually love her!

SS: I must admit that the ending does feel a bit more unsatisfying than the last time I read it.

FH: did i ruin it for you?

FH: i’m sorry!!

SS: No, nothing like that. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the first Shakespeare play that I read, and most of my enjoyment came from that nostalgia. Looking at it in a more critical light, the character arcs aren’t executed as well as they could be. When I read it the first time, I filled in a lot of the gaps in the character arcs with my own imagination, I think.

FH: that’s okay. it’s still pretty good though, even though it’s not really my thing. :^]

SS: BD

FH: i’m almost done, but the pyramous and thisbe part is funny as fuck not gonna lie.

FH: ‘a play there is, my lord, some ten words long, which is as brief as i have known a play. but by ten words, my lord, it is too long,’ is something that can be so relatable to so many pieces of media.

SS: Truly a thought that transcends time.

FH: shoutout to the guy playing the wall.

FH: same energy as those kids who play the trees in their school plays.

FH: ‘now i am dead’ i would laugh but don’t half the monologues for shakespeares death scenes have the character basically say ‘i am dead’?

SS: Yes. I think some of it has to do with how Shakespeare will often ignore certain things that would kill someone instantly as killing them instantly, and instead interact with other characters until their part is fulfilled. The best example would be Desdemona in Othello being strangled to death, but not fully dying until her attendant finds her. It relies on a bit of suspension of disbelief in order to work, which isn’t out of the question for an audience to do. Therefore, the best course of action is to ignore these instances and focus on the plot progression as a whole.

FH: so it’s kind of like a stylistic choice?

SS: That would be a good assessment.

FH: the wall being left to bury the dead. i can’t!

FH: i feel like i just ran a marathon for some reason?

SS: Did you like it?

FH: i did! maybe the plot was a bit weak at points, but that’s probably because it was more focusing on irony and humor than logistics and good storytelling? it was very funny!

SS: I hope you aren’t just saying that to make me happy.

FH: nah, i would’ve told you if i didn’t like it!

SS: BD

FH: it is super late though!!

FH: I’m sorry I made you stay up so late!

SS: It’s alright. I have had a rather poor sleep schedule lately.

FH: well go to bed!!

SS: Okay. Goodnight. BD

–SS is offline!

–FH is offline!